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The Mountain View Whisman School District has prioritized environmental initiatives in recent years and recently won a statewide recognition for its work.
The district received the 2024 California Green Ribbon Schools award at the “gold” level. The California Department of Education gives out the award to schools and districts annually.
Mountain View Whisman decided to apply as an opportunity to highlight the work it has been doing, including its “greening” initiative to revamp outdoor spaces at its schools, district spokesperson Shelly Hausman said.
“It also just puts us in a community of people who also believe that this is really important and so we can learn from other school districts across the state,” Hausman said.
The state award is part of a nationwide U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools program. Those who earn the state gold level award are at least 75% of the way towards getting federal recognition, according to the California Department of Education. Mountain View Whisman was one of five honorees to get the statewide gold level award this year.
Only three districts and two schools in California won national recognition this year. Los Altos High School won the federal award in 2021.
According to Hausman, the district was very close to the federal cut off and plans to apply again in the future.
“The fact that we were able to get recognized the first year and only be a few points away from the national level is really impressive,” Hausman said.
To apply for the award, Mountain View Whisman detailed the environmental work it has done across several areas. The application included major items like the district’s solar panels, water reclamation work, and monitoring of energy usage, Hausman said.
But it also covered smaller initiatives like swapping out the plastic cutlery used in cafeterias for a more sustainable alternative, Chief Business Officer Rebecca Westover said.
“(It’s) lots of little changes all over the district, in addition to the big ones that we’ve made,” Westover said.
The district has used funds from the Measure T bond that voters passed in 2020 for various projects, including installing solar panels.
The award also considered conservation education, including the eighth grade trip to Yosemite and fifth graders going to Walden West outdoor school. Additionally, the district partners with community agencies like Living Classroom to work with students locally, Hausman said.
Going forward, Mountain View Whisman plans to continue to work on environmental initiatives, including a goal of having a teacher at each school who spearheads green initiatives, Westover said. The school board is also expected to vote on adopting an environmental sustainability plan this spring.
Westover and Hausman both said that the district is focused on sustainability because it’s the right thing to do. It’s important to model environmentally friendly behaviors for students, who will have to grapple with climate issues as they grow up, Hausman said.
“There’s a lot of people who go to school and work here,” Hausman said. “As an educational institution, I think it’s our responsibility to be an environmentally sustainable institution.”
This work has been going on for a number of years now – it is only the first year they have applied. I think that I have seen Trustee Conley and Trustee Berman lead the Board – on pushing this for a majority ‘direction’ in policy by the Board. Good legislative work.
The only thing I think a-waste-of-time-and-money is the almost $1/2 M for sending 8th graders to Yosemite one week [like those nearby rich districts do!]. Problem is / 1 week of instruction lost/ Not In the 8th Science Curriculum/ paid out of instruction $s – NOT Parent Organization Funding like Cupertino.